Parsing and Syntactic Ambiguity
Parsing is the process by which comprehenders assign syntactic structure to a sentence, and ambiguity resolution is how they choose among the structures a string can support.
Definition
The mental computation of syntactic structure during comprehension and the resolution of cases where more than one structure is possible.
Scope
This topic covers structural parsing strategies, the temporary and global ambiguities that arise during comprehension, and the principal accounts of how readers and listeners commit to and revise analyses. It includes evidence from reading times and eye movements bearing on whether early commitments are syntactic or constraint-based.
Core questions
- What strategies guide the parser's initial structural commitments?
- How are temporary ambiguities resolved, and when?
- Do semantic and frequency-based constraints affect the earliest parsing decisions?
Key concepts
- minimal attachment
- late closure
- temporary ambiguity
- thematic roles
- reanalysis
Key theories
- Structure-driven parsing principles
- The garden-path model's claim that the parser initially follows syntactic principles such as minimal attachment and late closure, independent of meaning.
- Lexicalist constraint satisfaction
- The view that ambiguity is resolved by combining probabilistic lexical, thematic, and contextual constraints in parallel, with structure following from lexical information.
History
The structure-driven parsing principles of the early 1980s were challenged through the 1990s by lexicalist and constraint-based studies showing rapid effects of verb-specific and thematic information on ambiguity resolution.
Debates
- Syntax-first versus constraint-based resolution
- Whether the parser first builds structure on purely syntactic grounds or integrates lexical, thematic, and contextual constraints from the outset.
Key figures
- Lyn Frazier
- Maryellen MacDonald
- John Trueswell
Related topics
Seminal works
- fraziernrayner1982
- macdonald1994
- trueswell1994
Frequently asked questions
- What is minimal attachment?
- It is a parsing strategy in which the comprehender attaches incoming material into the current structure using the fewest additional nodes, predicting the simplest analysis as the initial preference.